Refrigerator latch



July 2851V` 1931. c. GEsKr-z l 1,315,184

REFRIGERATOR LATCH Filed April 11, 1927 2 Smets-shan 1 Y lll Illli 3' July 28, 19431. cfGEsKE v 1,816,184

REFRIGERATOR LATCH F`led April l1. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [nut/m1 or (y ad EL@ i k z cani; assign, or 'GRAND RAPIDS,

i Fatented J'uly 28,y "1931i STATES PATENT OFFICE ApplicationA mea'aprn 11,

This ,invention relates to latches and is vmore particularly concerned with latches which are to ybe used with krefrigerators on the swinging doors thereof. In refrigerators, in many cases,`the doors, which may be opened foraccess to the ice chamber and provision compartments of the refrigerator,

considerable correspondence and resultant Adelay nearly always occurredV when latches hadto be supplied for replacement on re'- f-rigerators which had been'sold and had left the factory, have made it very desirable that a single construction of latch be made which r can be readily applied to either type of door,

to the'left. i'

that is, whether vswinging to the right or yThis invention is'directed to a latch of I thischaracter which mayfth'us be readily applied to and l.used on a refrigerator 'door irrespective yof thefdirection in which it is swung. fJThebeonstruction is l very simple yand eifectiveand one which can be manufactured at'lcw cost and in addition to the possibility of using 'the latch yon doors swinging Ain either direction it also is 'equipped withr a verysimple and effective means' ff for automaticallyfholding the latch lever 'in retracted `Vposition ,when it 'has been `released from' its keeper when the door is to be opened. vThis `eliminates the usualy strain to which the fastenings securing the latch to [a door are subjected as the end of the'latch lever passes freely above the nose of ytheV ykeeperpand does not have to rideiover a camlsurfaceand there does nothave yto be a compression of the latch lever actuating spring as has beenusual in. spring actuated lever latches. The release of the latch lever afterpassing over ythe nosefof'the keeper is automatically yelifectedas the door comes to MICHIGAN. AssIeNOR To wnvrnns & CRAMPTON aMAnUrncTUnING COMPANY, or cnANnvrLLn, Mrcnrean, A CORPORATION yor REFRIGERATOR LATCH 1927@ serial No. 182,974.

its closing latch and its fastenings and on the door hinges and their fastenings are eliminated. vFor an understanding of the construct-ion which has been produced for the attainment of the above stated ends, aswell as many others notrparticularly enumerated atfthis time, reference may be had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. l is a fragmentary frontelevation of a door and door casing, the latch rattached to the door and the keeper attached tothe casing being shown in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through lthe construction shown in Fig, l.

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the construction shown in Fig. 1, the door being in partly open position and the latch lever heldin retracted position and disengaged `from the keeper., m 1 u Fig. 4f is a plan of the latch, the upper part of the casing being cut away andwith the latch lever in normal central position.

Fig. 5 is a view similar tofFig. l but show- .f

ing the latch lever moved lto andheld in retracted position. t

Fig. .6 is an under plan view of 'the latch, the latch lever and bottom plate being re moved. Y f

Fig. .7 is a vertical section through the latch near one side of its casing or housing, and

' Fig. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the latch lever. l

Like reference characters refer to like parts'in the different figures of they drawings.

Inthe construction of the latch, a housing l of sheet metal is provided, it havingthe position and all strain onr the I intermediateraised portion from which upon `the 5 into theopenings 6 and 7 for the purpose of securing a vbar of sheet metal 9 in place in the raised portion of the housing. This bar 9 extends across the housing and at each end vis formed Y with an inwardly turned liange'lO, the ears 8 being bent inwardly against the edges of said langes. Bar 9 also between its ends is formed with two stop vmembers 11 which are cut from the metal andv turned inwardly at VrightV angles. being spaced a short distance from f each other. Y

A post 12 is secured permanently at'- one end to the bar 9 and extends inwardly, it being interiorly bored and threaded at its inner end as best shown in Fig. 2. A spring is disposed on the post 12 being coiled as at 13 s o as to pass around the post and having two endsr14 in the form of arms which eX- tend substantially parallel to the length of the bar 9 and which are located oneragainst theouter side of each of the stop members 11. These spring arms 14 are also bent inwardly as best shown in Fig. 2 so as to bear against the upper side of the latch lever which Yis designed to have a double lrocking mount on the post 12.

The latch lever 15 is formed at one end with a handle 16 and at its outer side a distance from its opposite end with an outwardly projecting lug 17. An opening 18 circular inl cross section is madethrough the lever 15 between its ends and this opening is enlarged from the outer side of the lever tothe inner side asindicated at 19, whereby when the lever is placed over the post 12 it not only may have a rocking movement in aplane'parallel to the plane of the face of the door but also another rocking movement in a plane vrat right angles tothe first plane. In the assembly of the lever on the -post 12 as shown in Fig. 2 the coil 13 and the arms 14 of the spring are between the lever and theca'sing and the inwardly bent arms 14 come one against each side of the lug 17 and the ends of said arms 14 vbear against inclined surfaces 20 formed at the outer side and at each edge of the lever as best shown in Fig. 5fV These spring arms hold the lever in normal central neutral position and also have a tendency to rock the projecting endV of thelever inwardly by reason of the pressure of the arms against 'the lever where the ends'V of said arms bear against the inclined surfaces 20. v

The open inner side of the housing is closed by abase plate 21 which at one edge has a triangular-shaped member or shelf 22 bent back upon the base plate. The lopposite edges 23 of Vthe member 22 come-together at the pointor apex of the member as shown in Fig. 5. The plate is secured to the housing and also holds the latch lever on the post .12 kbyvmeans of a screw 24 'which passes through an opening in the base plate, threading into the end of the post 12 as fully shown in Fig. 2.

The keeperY which is used with this latch is attached to the door casing 25 and cornprises a base 26 through which screws Vmay pass to secure the'same permanently to the door casing. From the base 26' ahook member 27 extends outwardly, it being of the form best shown in Fig. 3, having an outer cam surface' `28y and anV innerinclinedj'surface 29, the two surfaces 28 and 29 meeting at the nose of the keeper hook 27 *Integral with and projecting from the base 26 above the hook member 27 is a post 30 which at its outer portion'is inclined upwardly and outwardly as indicated at 31. K .j j

' When the door is in closedk position, as shown in Fig. 1,'the projecting endv ofthe latch lever 15 isY received in the keeper hook 27 and by reason ofthe pressure of the spring tending to maintain the lever in its intermediate normal position lthe leverV is wedged against the inclined inner side y29 of the hook 27, thereby holding the door in tightly closed position. vWhen the door is to be opened the handle 16 is grasped and the lever rocked inra Vplane parallel to the face of the door and against one of the arms 14 of the spring. to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. The lever rides over the member 22 until it passes an edge 23 thereof, whereupon 'the spring arm 14v which is engagedwith the lever tends to rock the projecting end of the lever inwardly so ,that the lever may engage with the upper edge 23 of the member 22, as, shown in Fig. 5; It is also apparent that theoutward pull on theV handlev16 in opening the doorworks with the spring in rocking the lever in aplane substantially at right angles tothe plane of the door so as to engage the lever against the upper edge23of the retaining--member or he'lf 22. Theflatch lever -is releasedfrom the keeper and the door maybe swungopen and all'the time that'thegdoor is openthe latch lever is .held inV its inoperative .fre- Y tracted position'. Y v

In closing the door the projecting end of the latch lever 15 comes againstgthefpart 31 whereupon the end of the latch lever is dislodged fromthe retaining member Vor shelf 22 and the projecting end of the latch lever is released so that it may engage with the keeper hook.y This occurs automatically as the dooris closed.`k It is ofcourse' apparentY that if for any reason the lever 15 does not engage lwith vthe retaining member or shelf 22 the door can be Vclosed by applying sufcient force as the projecting. end of the latch lever willthen ride upon the cam side 28 until it passes over thenose ofthe keeper as hasvbee'n common in spring actuated latch leversY used herttofore.-v And if,

throughv any circumstances, the leverrshould be turned in a direction'opposite that which `end of the lever is moved below` normal cen- ;tral position and held by the under edge 23 of the retaining member or shelf 22, then when the door isy closed the lever is disf lodged from its engagement with the member 22 returning to central position and may then ride at its projecting end over the cam side 28 until it passes over the nose of the keeper and enters the rrecess of the keeper hook. This latchV lever is shown as a plied to a door hingedly mounted for swinging movement to the right but by merely reversing the position of the'lever so that the upper andvlower flanges -2 of the casings change position with each other this latch is then available for use on doors swinging to the left and the operationfof the latch is the same as that described. Its automatic retention is retracted position is the same and the automatic release of the lever when the door is closed is the sameas that previously described.

-'Ihe construction of the latch is one of value, combining as it does in a latch having a construction adapted for application to either right or left swinging doors without change in the latch, the advantage that when applied to either kind of door the lever may be swung to retracted position, automatically held in such position all of the time that the door is open and automatically released to enter the keeper when the doory is closed. The simplicity of construction of the latch, its economy in manufacture, and the simplicity and ease of its assembly are also further features of value in this construction. The invention is dep fined in the appended claims and is to be bar located a short distance considered as comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim:

l. A latch construction comprising a housing, a bar secured in the housing at the outer part thereof, a pin extending inwardly from said bar, two spaced apart sto lugs on said from the pin, a spring coiled around the pin and having two ends extending lengthwise of the bar to form spring arms, one bearingk against the outer side of each' lug, and a lever pivotally mounted on the pin, one of said arms bearing against each side of the lever to hold it infnormal middle position, said lever being capable ofrocking movement in either .directionaway from its normal middle position.

2. In a latch construction, a housing, a bar fixed in the outer portion of the housing, a pin attached to and extending inwardly from the bar, two spaced apart stop lugs extending inwardly from the bar a short distance from said pin, a spring coiled around said pin and having its ends exf tended ,into two arms located lengthwise of 3. In a construction of the class described,

a housing, a pivot pin in the housing, a latch lever having an opening larger than the pin whereby the lever may have a rocking movement on the pin in two directions at an angle to each other, spring means coiled around the pin having ends extendedinto arms located in substantial alignment with the-lever, two stationary stops secured to the housing located between said arms, means on the lever against opposite sides of which the two spring arms are located, a plate secured at the inner side of the housing, and means on the plate having two edges angularly disposed with respect to reach other and with one of which the lever ypivot and having free ends arranged to return said bolt to its horizontal position from either of its angular positions, and readily releasable means to hold said bolt in either of its angular positions.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CARL GESKE. 

